BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Two companies owned by a Northwest Arkansas couple with a home renovation show on HGTV were sued last year by an unhappy customer after allegedly breaching contract.
Now, nearly a year since the lawsuit's filing in February 2023, both parties have failed to reach a settlement despite attempts at mediation.
With the jury trial fast approaching, here's what to know about the case.
The Lawsuit
Dave and Jenny Marrs, two Northwest Arkansas residents, are the hosts of “Fixer to Fabulous” and have been featured on “Rock the Block," two shows on HGTV.
Jupiter Rentals, LLC, and Marrs Construction, Inc, are Benton County companies owned by Dave. The two companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed by Matthew and Sarah McGrath, a husband and wife who claim that they entered into a contract with them that was later broken.
The suit, filed on Feb. 7, 2023, says that the defendants agreed to perform upgrades to the McGrath’s property both before and after purchase, but the upgrades were reportedly never completed.
Court documents say that on May 22, 2022, the McGraths entered into a contract with Marrs Construction and Jupiter Rentals to purchase a property at Itetbury Lane in Bella Vista, valued at the time at $559,000, which the McGraths paid. Marrs Construction built the improvements located on the property.
After multiple inspections of the property in June and July 2022, the McGraths submitted multiple lists of specific upgrades that needed to be done, which the defendants agreed to perform, according to the complaint.
Repairs in the two lists included installing missing cabinet hardware, repairing or replacing broken windows, and repairing hardwood floors in the kitchen, among other things.
“Although the contract suggests that building was completed at the time of execution of the contract, the plaintiffs requested specific upgrades to be performed by Jupiter, by and through its agent Dave Marrs,” the complaint said.
On July 28, 2022, the McGraths purchased the home and acquired ownership. The contract gave the two companies 30 days to perform most of the repairs.
The McGraths say, however, that the companies did not fulfill their end of the deal, and that the defects in their new house were worse than they thought.
“As of August 28, 2022, not a single item on the list of repairs had been performed,” the complaint said. “Since that time, the defendants by and through David Marrs have attempted some of the repairs listed but ... several of the attempts to repair have caused more damage to the house.”
The couple says that soon after taking possession of the property, they discovered additional defects in the construction of the home. They later had a structural engineer inspect their home and learned that the construction defects were “even more numerous than they were aware.”
The lawsuit says that, under the terms of the warranty, Marrs Construction promised that any defects in workmanship or materials would be repaired at its expense. However, the McGraths claim that attempts to communicate with Dave and his companies failed, and that the defendants "refused to perform the repairs."
The suit argues that the McGraths are afforded implied warranties, including habitability, sound workmanship, and proper construction, and that the Marrs' should be found liable for breach of those warranties due to the serious defects that they were given notice of but refused to repair.
The complaint claims that Jupiter Rentals and Marrs Construction are guilty of breach of warranty and contract.
In addition to asking for the court’s judgment against Jupiter Rentals and Marrs Construction, the McGraths are asking for attorney’s fees and costs of litigation to be awarded as relief as well as all costs associated with the repair of their property stemming from the defendant’s “failure to perform.”
The Response
Both Jupiter Rentals and Marrs Construction responded to the suit in March 2023, denying some of the allegations and saying that the contract “speaks for itself.”
In the responses, the defendants admit that the McGraths had notified the companies of the alleged construction deficiencies and that they had made efforts to address the repairs on the lists, but that the couple had kept them from doing any work, allegedly refusing to allow agents or subcontractors from the companies onto the property.
The responses explain that, in order to perform the repairs mentioned in the contracts, the companies and their builders needed access to the property, saying that the McGraths need to cooperate in order to get the work done.
Marrs Construction and Jupiter Rentals went on to claim that the alleged damage and deficiencies "resulted from unavoidable occurrences, by independent, intervening, and superseding causes, and were not caused by any fault, act, omission, and breach of obligations pursuant to contract, express warranty, or implied warranty on the part of this defendant."
Failed Mediation
After the complaint and responses were filed and a jury trial had been scheduled, Judge Christine Horwart, the Benton County judge overseeing the lawsuit, ordered the parties to attend mediation no later than Sept. 29, 2023, and to report back to the court with results.
On Sept. 19, the parties engaged in mediation, which the McGraths said “failed utterly" in a court filing from Oct. 2.
In the filing, the McGrath's legal counsel claims that the defendants had repeatedly failed to produce responses to discovery that weren't "full of objections and vague promises to supplement" despite multiple deadline extensions.
The McGrath’s court filing asks that the court order the defendants to produce all answers to discovery. The filing also asks that the defendants be ordered to pay attorney’s fees.
“The plaintiffs have expended all good faith available to them in the attempt to get the defendants to produce these responses, and for that reason, this court should order the defendants to pay a reasonable sum in attorney’s fees to the plaintiffs for the need for them to file this motion,” the filing said.
The Marrs' responded on Oct. 17, claiming that they disagree with how the McGraths characterized the events and communication.
Legal counsel for the Marrs' say in the filing that an informal inspection regarding the alleged contractual breaches and construction defects was held on May 30, 2023, and that the defense submitted a proposed settlement just a few days later. The defense added that while settlement conversations were occurring, there was an agreement with the McGraths that there would be an informal moratorium on discovery.
What's Ahead
On Feb. 20, Judge Horwart acted on a motion to compel filed by the McGraths, requiring Jupiter Rentals and Marrs Construction to properly produce responses related to the case, giving varying deadlines within a 30-day period related to multiple interrogatories and requests for production.
A five-day jury trial is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2024, at the Benton County Courthouse.
5NEWS reached out to both parties in the case for comment; the plaintiffs declined, and the defendants did not respond.
This is not the first time that the Marrs’ have been sued regarding their construction. In a past lawsuit against the couple filed in 2021, a Northwest Arkansas couple claimed that Marrs Construction failed to complete work on their home without defects.
The lawsuit states the Marrs’ “did not maintain an Arkansas Contractors License” and “Neither Marrs Developing, LLC nor Marrs Construction, Inc. obtained the required construction-related permits from Benton County, Arkansas for the remodel to occur at the home.”
A settlement was reached before going to trial.
The case was dismissed in March 2022 with an order from Judge Xollie Duncan stating “The court finds that the plaintiffs have settled their claims and fully released the defendants from any and all claims the plaintiffs may have against them.”
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